The statistics are everywhere: Americans will spend 8 billion dollars celebrating Halloween this year, with the average person spending $75 on decorations, candy, and costumes.

When I first read these statistics, my mind filled to overflowing with holier-than-thou thoughts like, “What are people thinking? How can they spend money on cobwebs and giant spiders when over 800 million people in the world will go to bed hungry tonight? How can people justify dressing up their dogs as vampires when poor nutrition will cause the deaths of over 3 million children this year alone?”